Guide runner for door drive mechanism

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a guide skid for a gate drive which is accommodated sliding in a C-profile, with two lateral openings extending over its length to accommodate a drive cord, a locking element for the coupling and disconnecting from the drive cord and a connecting element for the gate to be moved. The guide skid has a symmetrical outline and when installed has no parts projecting beyond the C-profile, and with the guide skid being provided one face thereof with a continuous slot which is bridged by a bolt forming the connecting element.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a guide skid for a gate drive which isaccommodated sliding in a C-profile, with two lateral openings extendingover its length to accommodate a drive cord, with a locking element forthe coupling to and disconnecting from the drive cord and with aconnecting element for the gate to be moved.

With known gate drives the guide skids are accommodated sliding in aC-profile. They have two lateral openings extending over their length toaccommodate a drive cord, e.g. a drive chain or drive belt. By means ofan insertable locking element the guide skids can be coupled to thedrive chain or drive belt, and when required can be disconnected fromsame by means of a handle. When installed, a fastening eye projects fromthe underside of the guide skid downwards beyond the delimiting surfaceof the C-profile. An actuating rod for the gate is attached to thisfastening eye. This asymmetrical construction of the guide skid hasseveral disadvantages. Thus, because of the asymmetrical construction,the handling of the guide skids during storage and transport isinconvenient. From the strength point of view, the projecting fasteningeye furthermore constitutes a critical component.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is the object of the invention to improve the guide skid of theindicated type in such a way that it has a compact construction and,whilst made of comparatively few parts, reliably performs all functions.According to the invention this objective is achieved, proceeding from aguide skid which is accommodated sliding in a C-profile, with twolateral openings extending over its length to accommodate a drive cord,with a locking element for the coupling to and disconnecting from thedrive cord and with a connecting element for the gate to be moved, bythe features of the guide skid having a symmetrical outline and wheninstalled has no parts projecting past the C-profile, and with the guideskid being provided on one face thereof with a continuous slot which isbridged by a bolt which forms the connecting element. According to same,the guide skid has a symmetrical outline and when installed has no partsprojecting beyond the C-profile. In addition, the guide skid is providedon one face with a continuous slot which extends parallel to the sidewalls. The slot is bridged by a bolt which forms the connecting element.The bolt is, therefore, securely anchored in the housing of the guideskid, which increases the stability of the fastening point formed by thebolt.

According to the preferred embodiment, the bolt can be put from theoutside into a slot in the form of a U-profile and can be fixed intoposition at its ends by fastening screws. As a result, it will be easyto put in the bolt when the guide skid is already installed in theC-profile.

Preferably, the skid consists essentially of two moulded plastic partswhich can be plugged onto one another and joined together in adetachable manner.

The locking element arranged inside the skid consists of a shiftablelocking bar which is arranged moving transversely to the direction ofmovement of the guide skid. Preferably, a guide lug is arranged, e.g.moulded onto the locking bar, which co-operates with a slide guideprovided on a spring-loaded shifting element arranged movable in theguide skid. The slide guide of the shifting element can be actuatedagainst the force of the spring by means of a handle in order to coupleand disconnect the locking bar. The handle can be guided out of the slotin the middle of the guide skid. It can, therefore, be moved downwardsout of the slot in any installation position of the guide skid.

To ensure an accurate adaptation to various heights of the C-profile, atleast part of the surface of the guide skid can be covered by an adapterwhich is fastened to the guide skid in a detachable manner. Separateprotection is claimed for this problem solution.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further details, characteristics and advantages of the invention will beexplained in more detail with reference to an exemplified embodimentillustrated in the drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1: shows a perspective view of a guide skid according to oneembodiment of the present invention in the installed state,

FIG. 2: shows a section through the guide skid of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3: shows a perspective view of an embodiment of the guide skidwhich has been slightly modified compared to FIG. 1,

FIG. 4: shows an exploded view of a guide skid according to FIG. 1dismantled into its parts,

FIG. 5: shows a top view onto a guide skid in basic representation toexplain the locking mechanism, and

FIG. 6: is a perspective view of a guide skid according to FIG. 1 withattached adapter.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIGS. 1 and 2 show a guide skid 10 according to the invention, which isguided sliding in a C-rail profile 12. Guided in the lateral sections ofthe C-rail profile 12 is, for example, a toothed belt—notillustrated—which can be driven by way of a drive motor which is notillustrated here. The guide skid 10 can be coupled to this toothed beltby way of a locking bar 14, which is illustrated diagrammatically inFIG. 2. The toothed belt runs through the lateral openings 16 and 18provided over the length of the guide skid 10. By pushing the lockingbar 14 into the opening 18, the guide skid 10 is coupled to the toothedbelt—not illustrated—and by a corresponding pulling back of the lockingbar 14 the guide skid 10 is disconnected from the toothed belt. Thecoupling movement takes place by means of a handle 20, which in anexemplified arrangement can be noted from the illustrations of FIGS. 1and 2. In this embodiment the handle is arranged asymmetrically.

The guide skid 10 is provided in the middle on one face with a slot 22.This slot is bridged by a laterally fastened bolt 24. A connecting rodfor the gate to be moved—not illustrated—can be attached by way of thebolt 24. According to another, not illustrated embodiment the handle 20may also be arranged in the area of the slot 22. This has the advantagethat the handle 20, depending on the installation position of the skid10, can be moved downwards out of the C-rail profile 12 from each of thetwo installation positions turned by 180°.

FIG. 3 shows how the bolt 24 is fastened in the guide skid 10. The guideskid 10 is provided with slot-like recesses in the form of a U-profile32, into which the bolt 24 can be placed and held in position by meansof screws 26 and 28.

As can be noted in particular from FIG. 4, the guide skid 10 with itssymmetrical outline consists essentially of two molded plastic parts 34and 36 that can be plugged onto one another and joined together in adetachable manner. The plugging together of the two half—shells 34 and36 takes place by lateral snap-in lugs 38, which permit an easy joiningtogether by snapping in. For securing purposes, connecting screws 26, 28and 30 are provided wherein the connecting screws 26,28 at the same timeserve to hold the bolt 24 in position, as indicated in the foregoing. Inthe bottom molded plastic part 36 of the skid 10, a guide 40 isintegrated for the locking bar 14 which forms a separate molded plasticpart. This guide consists essentially of two parallel ends, betweenwhich the locking bar 14 is guided shifting lengthways. The direction ofmovement of the locking bar 14 extends at 90° to the direction ofmovement of the guide skid 10. At the top a guide lug 42 is molded ontothe locking bar 14. This guide lug 42 co-operates with a slide guide 44which is provided on a shifting element 46. The shifting element 46 ismounted shifting lengthways in the guide skid 10 and rests against acompression spring which holds the shifting element in a startingposition. The shifting element 46 can be shifted against the force ofthe compression spring 48 by means of the handle 20, which engages inthe attachment 48′ on the shifting element. By this lengthways shiftingof the shifting element 46, by way of the guide lug 42, the position ofthe locking bar 14 is changed. This will be explained with reference toFIG. 5. There the locking bar 14 is illustrated in the position in whichit is coupled to a toothed belt connector 50. In this position the guidelug 42 of the locking bar 14 lies in position 1 of the slide guide 44.To release the locking bar 14, the shifting element 46 is shifted untilthe guide lug 42 of the locking bar 14 has reached the apex 2 of theslide guide 44. After releasing the handle, the shifting element 46 ismoved by the spring pressure in the direction opposite to the pullingdirection of the handle, so that the guide lug 42 together with thelocking bolt 14 is moved along the curve of the slide guide intoposition 3. In this position the locking bar 14 is pulled laterallyalong the guide 40 of FIG. 4 inwards into the guide skid 10, so that thereleased position is obtained. To produce a locking, the shiftingelement 46 is again moved downwards by means of the handle. Via theslide guide 44 the locking bar is then again moved into the startingposition 1, so that it is again moved into the locked position.

In the embodiment according to FIG. 6, the guide skid described in theforegoing is screwed to an adapter 52 which covers part of it. Theadapter 52 is a moulded plastic part which extends over the entire widthof the guide skid 10 and is sufficiently long to ensure a secure guidingin a C-profile. By suitably thick adapters 52 an adaptation to theheight of the C-rail can take place.

What is claimed is:
 1. Guide skid for a gate drive, which is structuredand arranged to be accomodated sliding in a C-profile, with two-lateralopenings extending over its length to accomodate a drive cord, a lockingelement for coupling to and disconnecting from the drive cord and aconnecting element for the gate to be moved, wherein the guide skid hassymmetrical outline and when installed in the C-profile, is structuredand arranged such that all parts of the guide skid are contained withinthe C-profile and no parts thereof project beyond a slot in theC-profile, the guide skid is provided on one face with a continous slotwhich is bridged bya bolt which forms the connecting element, and thebolt can be put, from outside, into a U-profile and can be fixed intoposition at its ends by fastening screws.
 2. Guide skid according toclaim 1, wherein the locking element consists of a shiftable locking barwhich is arranged moving transversely to direction of movement of theguide skid.
 3. Guide skid according to claim 2, wherein an adapter whichcovers at least part of the guide skid and is fastened to the guide skidin a detachable manner in order to adapt it to different C-rail heights.4. Guide skid according to claim 1, wherein the skid consistsessentially of two molded plastic parts which can be plugged onto oneanother and joined together in a detachable manner.
 5. Guide skidaccording to claim 4, wherein the locking element consists of ashiftable locking bar which arranged moving transversely to thedirection of movement of the guide skid.
 6. Guide skid according toclaim 1, wherein an adapter which covers at least part of the guide skidand is fastened to the guide skid in a detachable manner in order toadapt it to different C-rail heights.
 7. Guide skid for a gate drive,which is structured and arranged to be accomodated sliding in aC-profile, with two lateral openings extending over its length toaccomodate a drive cord, a locking element for coupling to anddisconnecting from the drive cord, and a connecting element for the gateto be moved, wherein the guide skid has a symmetrical outline and wheninstalled in the C-profile, is structured and arranged such that allparts of the guide skid are contained within the C-profile and no partsthereof projet beyond a slot in the C-profile, the guide skid isprovided in face with a continous slot which is bridged by a bolt whichforms the connecting element, and the skid consists essentially of twomolded plastic parts which can be plugged onto one another and joinedtogether in a detachable manner.
 8. Guide skid according to claim 7,wherein the locking element consists of a shiftable locking bar whicharranged moving transversely to the direction of movement of the guideskid.
 9. Guide skid according to claim 7, wherein an adapter whichcovers at least part of the guide skid and is fastened to the guide skidin a detachable manner in order to adapt it to different C-rail heights.10. Guide skid for a gate drive, which is structured and arranged to beaccommodated sliding in a C-profile, with two lateral openings extendingover its length to accommodate a drive cord, a locking element for thecoupling to and disconnecting from the drive cord and a connectingelement for the gate to be moved, wherein the guide skid has asymmetrical outline and when installed in the C-profile, is structuredand arranged such that all parts of the sliding guide skid are containedwithin the C-profile and no parts thereof project beyond a slot in theC-profile, the guide skid is provided on one face with a continuous slotwhich is bridged by a bolt which forms the connecting element, thelocking element consists of a shiftable locking bar which is arrangedmoving transversely to the direction of movement of the guide skid, anda guide lug is arranged on the locking bar, which co-operates with aslide guide provided on a spring-loaded shifting element.
 11. Guide skidaccording to claim 10, wherein the slide guide of the shifting elementcan be actuated against the force of the spring by means of a handle inorder to couple and disconnect the locking bar.
 12. Guide skid accordingto claim 11, wherein the handle is guided out of the slot in the middleof the guide skid, so that it can be moved downwards out of the slot inany installation position of the guide skid.
 13. Guide skid according toclaim 12, wherein an adapter which covers at least part of the guideskid and is fastened to the guide skid in a detachable manner in orderto adapt it to different C-rail heights.
 14. Guide skid according toclaim 11, wherein an adapter which covers at least part of the guideskid and is fastened to the guide skid in a detachable manner in orderto adapt it to different C-rail heights.
 15. Guide skid according toclaim 10, wherein an adapter which covers at least part of the guideskid and is fastened to the guide skid in a detachable manner in orderto adapt it to different C-rail heights.
 16. Guide skid for a gatedrive, which is structured and arranged to be sliding in a C-profile,with two lateral openings extending over its length to accommodate adrive cord, a locking element for the coupling to and disconnecting fromthe drive cord and a connecting element for the gate to be moved,wherein the guide skid has a symmetrical outline and when installed inthe C-profile, is structured and arranged such that all parts of thesliding guide skid are contained within the C-profile and no partsthereof project beyond a slot in the C-profile, the guide skid isprovided on one phase with a continuous slot which is bridged by a boltwhich forms the connecting element, and an adapter, which is arranged tocover at least part of the guide skid, is fastened to the guide skid ina detachable manner in order to adapt the guide skid to differentC-profile heights.
 17. Guide skid according to claim 16, wherein thelocking element consists of a shiftable locking bar which arrangedmoving transversely to a direction of movement of the guide skid.